Frequent flyer points a big con

Banks, credit card companies, airlines and retailers are generating millions of frequent flyer miles as incentives but they are doing so in the full knowledge they are making promises that cannot be kept. Too many miles are chasing too few available seats and everyone knows it. The whole system is built on the knowledge that a large proportion of those miles, at least 20 per cent, will never be redeemed. The entire frequent flyer edifice, now worth billions to the airlines, is part incentive and part con job, writes Paul Sheehan.

SMH 14 Jan 2008